News Affecting Us

In the Star Tribune today there's an article entitled:

Minnesota officials take dramatic steps to restore order at Anoka-Metro mental hospital

The gist is,

"Influx of inmates and surge in violent assaults prompt state to limit county-jail admissions to Minnesota’s second-largest psychiatric hospital."

The article deals with increased assaults on staff by violent criminals and the hospital wanting to do something about how to deal with it. Of course this is in sharp contrast to the jails where we've felt we were the dumping ground for the mentally ill.

"The move to limit admissions, however, already has aroused concern from the Sheriffs’ Association. The group strongly supported the 48-hour rule because of long-standing concerns that jails had become de facto holding pens for people with mental illnesses. With their mental disorders untreated, jail inmates sometimes would lash out violently."

The next item is a recent court decision regarding the gathering of meta-data by law enforcement. From the ACLU:

Why Today’s Landmark Court Victory Against Mass Surveillance Matters

In a landmark victory for privacy, a federal appeals court ruled unanimously today that the mass phone-records program exposed two years ago by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is illegal because it goes far beyond what Congress ever intended to permit when it passed Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

It recognizes that Section 215 of the Patriot Act does not authorize the government to collect information on such a massive scale.

Click on the link for the full story. We all know of our Sheriff's Office KIngfish system. This could reign it in. It's one thing to get a warrant to track a criminal. It's another thing to wholesale gather citizen information.

Finally, remember Dale Blom, the AFSCME 1134 President who showed up at our homes after AFSCME unlawfully obtained our addresses to harass our members? Well, the City Pages has a nice article on him. 

Hennepin County Correctional Officer Dale Blom Is a Convicted Sex Offender

Click on the picture for the full story. My favorite quote is from Chester Cooper, director of Hennepin County Community Corrections and Rehabilitation. The county considered the nature of Blom's offense and decided he was rehabilitated enough to work as a corrections officer. "He has been an excellent employee for more than 15 years."

 What is "rehabilitated enough?"